[北京 １８日 ロイター] – China’s major cities fell eerily quiet on Wednesday as people stayed at home after a surge in new coronavirus cases.
Wu Chunyou, chief epidemiology expert at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said China is now in the first of three waves of infections expected this winter, with the Chinese New Year holiday in January more waves expected at for people to return to their hometowns all at once.
No deaths from the coronavirus have been reported since the government lifted most of its zero-corona policy on Wednesday. 2,097 new symptomatic cases were reported on Thursday.
In Beijing, the capital of 22 million people, Omikron’s highly contagious strain has spread, and has already caused a shortage of workers for a range of services, from food delivery to crematoria and parcel delivery.
In the northwestern city of Xi’an, a subway with few passengers was posted on social media, while the commercial hub of Shanghai lost its usual New Year’s bustle.
Shanghai authorities instructed schools to start online classes in principle from the 19th, and Hangzhou was encouraged to bring forward the end of the winter semester.
Wu, head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said on Monday that current cases would peak this winter, and predicted three waves in about three months, according to state media. The first wave of infections occurred from mid-December to mid-January, mainly in urban areas, and the second wave occurred from late January to mid-February next year, triggered by mass movements before the Lunar New Year holiday , I thought I would . A third wave is expected from the end of February to mid-March as people return to work after the holidays.
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